A Kiss of Strawberries
by Chiizu
Summary: This was written for Snogs and I happen to like it. It's nice and short so just do yourself a favor and read it real quick, okay? ^.^


**Author's Note: This was written for the "101 Ways to Snog En Route to a Colony" fanfic contest...thing.  http://happyfangirl.org/snogs/index.htm**

Pairing: Solo/Duo

Warning: Blood, angst, death, some mental health issues...

~

It took some work, but he had managed to sneak back to the cargo bay, where the stowaways were hidden.  It was a vacation, Solo had told them, even though they were simply going to another L2 colony.  It was certainly better than their old colony, where the disease had killed everyone else...

It was certainly better than their old colony, which had gotten boring in the years he'd lived there.

He glanced around as he entered and realized that no one else in the room was elevated beyond sitting.  He was alone with the dead and dying...

He was alone with the _sleeping.  But they wouldn't stay sleeping for long because now he could help them.  The syringe shook in his hands as he eyed the sharp end warily.  Pointed objects were dangerous.  The small bottles of medicine, safely tucked into the pocket made by pulling the bottom edge of his shirt up, clinked together like the wind chimes outside that store back home._

He crawled past all of the sleeping kids and the kids that weren't asleep yet...but they looked tired.  Their eyes were red-rimmed, their faces pale and drawn.  Some of their fronts were stained red...

Some of their fronts were stained red, obviously from the _strawberries he'd stolen earlier._

Solo.  The room wasn't all that big, and so before he had much of a chance to digest his surroundings he was before the blue-eyed boy.

"Hey, Solo, I got it!" His face was eager, a stark contrast to the sick boy's glassy eyes and face glistening with sweat.

Blue eyes darkened. "What is that...?"  A horrified look...

An _amazed look came over Solo's face. "Oh, kid, why did you do that?"_

"You'll be okay, now!" The child smiled thinly.

"'Okay...okay, kid.  You know how to use that?" Dark blue eyes flickered to the needle in the six-year-old's right hand.

The dirt smuged face tinged pink, though it was impossible to see in the dark. "Not...not really."

"Okay..." The words broke off to allow for a wet cough which brought up red...

Solo gave a _small cough before continuing to give step-by-step instructions on how to fill the syringe with the clear liquid inside the bottles._

"Now?" he asked, a childlike impatience contrasting sharply with the situation.

"Yeah...give Sam some first.  She looks...."

"Wait, what about you?" He looked anxiously at Solo.

"No..." Solo said after a short time.  "I'm just...give some to 'em first, okay kid?  Please?"  His face was a mixture of hope and fear...

His face was a mixture of _hope and trust, to which the child replied, "...okay..."_

It was perhaps more than an hour before he worked his way around the room back to Solo.  It was a small room and there weren't that many people there, but his fingers were small and they fumbled with the delicate instrument.  He'd only thought to steal one syringe and knew that if he broke it there'd be big trouble...

He'd only thought to steal one syringe, but knew that if it broke _he could get more._

A few times he would near one of the other children, their eyes glassy, reflecting dully in the moonlight, and he knew...

A few times he would near one of the other children, their faces _darkened by the night, and he couldn't make out any features, but Solo would call out weakly for him to skip that one.  He had to listen to Solo._

Lucky, a cheery little girl with soft brown eyes and dirty blond hair grabbed his shirt as he passed, and her mouth opened, "Please, make me better, I'll be good, I promise," and then she was quiet as her eyes glazed...

...as her eyes slipped slowly shut into _a peaceful slumber.  Solo's voice called out gently, "leave her."_

Solo was last, just like he'd promised.  The needle shook unsteadily in his hand as he filled it up, one last time, with liquid from the last bottle.  He moved it to the leader's arm, but the emancipated arm pushed it feebly away.

Another arm grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down.  It was a weak movement, but he went with it.  Their lips touched, if only for a second, and maybe it was strange and new, but it was sweet.

Solo's body gave a shudder and he coughed, blood gushing out of his mouth and landing on his pale face with the now-glassy eyes, and on the child's own face, in his own mouth, in his own eyes...

Solo's body gave a shudder and _smiled weakly.  "Thanks, kid."  __Then he fell asleep, because he had looked so tired, and all that was left was the red covering the child's front, and the memories of the strawberries that had put it there._


End file.
